On Writing
I've been teaching a writing class to a group of 6th graders for the past 5 weeks. More than anything, it makes me want to be a writer again. I think I've been a teacher/critic for too long. Every time I get an idea, I get excited about it, I start working on it, and a couple of days later I abandon the idea because I suddenly think it's stupid. *sigh* The best thing to do is just to write. Throw the critic out the door. Push her face into the snow. Write a little every day until I trust myself again. Push through the idea even when I think it's stupid. Stop expecting perfection to pour out of my finger tips with ease. A friend of mine once told me that successful writers are good at revision. Maybe so. But you've got to get something written before you can revise it.